Joining, Part One

These chicken legs—their names didn't sound very proper...

Lin Hui felt he could already imagine what the two kinds of chicken legs might taste like.

Next, he stared intently at the chicken legs, trying to glean more information from the two branches.

But unfortunately, the Blood Seal's information seemed to end there. It only gave him two names that he could do nothing but guess at.

"Eat up. Why are you zoning out during dinner?" His mother, Yao Shan, asked in confusion.

"Mm, I know, Mother." Only then did Lin Hui look away and nod, starting to gnaw on his chicken leg.

As his gaze shifted, it fell on the chopsticks in front of him. The Blood Seal immediately began to flicker and distort again.

New dotted lines began to extend from the edges of the chopsticks.

"Bamboo Chopsticks: ordinary tableware, moderately worn. Three possible evolution branches."

"1—Heaven Crystal Bamboo Chopsticks."

"2—Purple-Green Thunder Bamboo Chopsticks."

"3—Chopstick Man."

"..." Lin Hui stared at the final option, Chopstick Man, and fell into thought once more.

He could guess what the first two meant from their names alone. But the last one...

He tried to imagine choosing the third evolution branch.

Hiss.

After a faint sound, all the evolution branches before him vanished. The third branch reappeared, enlarged, and was followed by a string of information.

"Evolve into Chopstick Man?"

"Required resources: one pair of bamboo chopsticks, one year's worth of stored energy."

"Time required: five years."

That long!?

Lin Hui jumped in alarm and hurriedly selected no.

If he selected yes, he might end up spending a whole year's worth of energy. And as for what sort of Chopstick Man would come out of it, that was pure gambling.

After eating quickly, Lin Hui used the excuse that he wanted to get some fresh air, then got up and left the house.

Because of the Door-Breaking Ghost, tall patrols from the local government offices were constantly coming and going outside.

Right outside his home was safe enough, so Lin Hui simply crouched by the door and tested what this newly awakened Blood Seal could do.

First, he crouched down, looked around, and plucked a blade of grass.

"Roadside Grass: ordinary plant, immature, suitable for raising livestock. Two possible evolution branches."

"1—Purgatory Bitter Spirit Grass."

"2—Grass Man."

"Sure enough, here it is again. What's the difference between this Grass Man and the Chopstick Man just now?" Lin Hui tried selecting Grass Man and immediately saw a long string of information, including a wait of at least seven years...

Next, he picked up a stone from the ground and held it in his hand.

Sure enough, the stone also showed evolution branches.

"1—Reinforcement Stone."

"2—Stone Man."

This time, he didn't choose Stone Man. He chose the first option, Reinforcement Stone.

"Evolve into Reinforcement Stone?"

"Reinforcement Stone: consume a fixed amount of stone powder to gain a slight boost to one's constitution.

Required resources: one stone, seven days' worth of stored energy.

Time required: one month."

That was a relief. This one still took a while, but at least he could see some hope. The previous one would take far too long.

Lin Hui breathed a little easier.

Then he put down the stone and tried many other kinds of rocks. They all yielded similar evolution branches.

As he continued testing, he gradually began to understand what the Blood Seal did.

"This thing is a universal enhancement device. It can enhance anything, and it can also provide some information through analysis and deduction. Aside from the costs being a little too high, there might still be some other functions I haven't figured out." Lin Hui set aside his exploration for now. He planned to wait until he went to Qingfeng Temple and learned real skills and knowledge before trying to see if he could use it to enhance his other abilities and techniques, too.

At the thought, he raised his head and watched the people passing before him. The trace of anxiety and worry he'd felt earlier slowly faded as the Blood Seal's ability came to light.

Early the next morning, his father, Lin Shunhe, took Lin Hui along on an ox cart and headed out of town.

After traveling for over an hour without stopping, they reached a secluded fork in the road.

The ox cart jolted as it turned onto the side road, then finally stopped in front of a gray-white Taoist temple enclosed by a circular outer wall.

Lin Hui climbed down from the cart and looked up at the temple.

"Qingfeng Temple."

The three characters were upright and neat, neither ostentatious nor restrained—calm and balanced.

Two children in pale blue Taoist robes stood at the entrance, each holding a broom as they chatted.

Only when they saw someone coming did they pretend to sweep a few times.

"Little Quanshun, is your master Mingde here?"

Lin Shunhe got down from the ox cart, paid the driver and told him to come back for them later, then went over to greet one of the young Taoists.

"It's Uncle He, who gives us candied hawthorns! Yes, he's here. Master told us to bring you in to see him as soon as we spotted you!" The young Taoist on the right, who wasn't wearing a blue hair ribbon, immediately recognized him.

"Sorry to trouble you." Lin Shunhe smiled and clasped his hands, then led his son through the temple gate after the boy.

Inside was a rather spacious courtyard. A large incense burner stood on the right, while several Taoists sat cross-legged on the left, apparently meditating and reciting scriptures.

At the far end of the courtyard, facing the gate, stood a small, three-story square building. Winged serpents, their bodies curved upward, adorned its corners.

The entire building was painted pale red. The paint was chipped in places, showing its age.

Hearing footsteps, a burly, tall, bearded Taoist in gray-white robes and black cloth shoes came laughing out to greet them. The moment he saw Lin Shunhe, he broke into a hearty laugh.

"Shunhe, my old friend! I've been waiting for you!"

"Brother Mingde, I really will have to trouble you this time. This is my son, Lin Hui!" Lin Shunhe pulled Lin Hui forward and patted him on the back with a smile.

"He's getting older and wanted something to do. I heard you're short a bookkeeper who knows arithmetic, and my son is definitely up to the task! I brought him here to give it a try."

"That should be easy enough. Given our friendship, we can get him through the door first. But whether he can actually do the work will depend on how he performs. After all, Sect Leader Senior Brother Bao He is the one who makes the final call," Mingde said with a smile.

"Of course, of course."

The two exchanged pleasantries as they went inside.

Lin Hui politely greeted Mingde, then followed them through the entrance.

The temple's main hall enshrined a headless statue missing an arm and a leg. There were no offerings before it, either. It was clear this wasn't a real Taoist temple; they were simply using it as a front for a martial arts school.

Soon, Lin Hui was settled in a side room off the hall to wait.

His father and Daoist Mingde went to handle the procedures for his admission to the temple.

The room was small, but it had a bookcase, a table, and a set of chairs.

With nothing to do, Lin Hui asked a passing Taoist whether he could browse the books on the shelves. After being told he could, he went over and pulled out a copy of the Wuwei Sutra at random, then began reading.

"By doing nothing, one acts. Those who act, act; not acting does not mean doing nothing. Rather, one binds oneself with intention and sets out in a fixed direction..."

The scripture went round and round in circles. After reading a few pages, he found it tedious, so he closed the book and was about to put it back.

Hiss.

Just then, that familiar faint sound came again.

Lin Hui's heart gave a jolt. He quickly took the book back and examined it closely.

"Wuwei Sutra: written by Daoist Wuming, the foundational doctrine used by the Wusheng Dao to spread its teachings. Three possible evolution branches."

"1—Purgatory Wuwei Sutra."

"2—Nine-Layer Compliance Sutra."

"3—Formless Wordless Sutra."

Looking at the three evolution branches, Lin Hui narrowed his eyes and casually selected Purgatory Wuwei Sutra to view its details.

"Evolve into Purgatory Wuwei Sutra?"

"Required resources: one copy of the Wuwei Sutra, twelve years' worth of stored energy."

"Time required: fifteen years."

The longest time so far... Lin Hui's heart tightened. Too bad there's no way to check what this scripture actually does.

He put the book back and scanned the other volumes on the shelf.

Aside from scriptures, there were various travel journals and miscellanies. But soon, he pulled out something different from a gap in the corner.

The Heart-Sealing Sword.

The book was thin, only nine pages long. In the lower-right corner of the front cover was the author's mark: a Taoist named Mingxin.

Lin Hui flipped through a few pages. It described how to bring someone to a great awakening, completely seal away the chasms of desire in their heart, and thereby seal their heart and enter the Dao, embarking on the true pursuit of immortality.

After roughly finishing the book, Lin Hui noticed that it contained many specific details about using words to guide and influence others. He was somewhat surprised.

"This is basically introductory hypnosis and psychology, isn't it?"

He focused his attention on the book again.

At once, new dotted lines extended from the right side of the Heart-Sealing Sword's pale blue cover.

Gray dotted lines connected to tiny pieces of information.

"Heart-Sealing Sword: a foundational scripture of the once-prosperous Fengchan Sect, widely circulated and written by Daoist Mingxin. Two possible evolution branches."

There was nothing more to it. Lin Hui opened the evolution branches.

"1—Fengyuan Scripture."

"2—Fengguang Art."

Seeing this, Lin Hui sighed. Just looking at the names, with no explanation of their actual effects, he didn't dare choose either one. After all, the costs were measured in years.

Even now, he still hadn't fully figured out what this Blood Seal was for.

"Maybe once I'm stronger and have more energy, the time needed to evolve things will shrink...?"

Knock, knock, knock.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

"Brother Lin Hui? Your father and Uncle-Master Mingde would like you to come to the inner hall." A somewhat childish boy's voice came from outside.

"Got it." Lin Hui walked over and opened the door. Outside stood a young Taoist with delicate features and his hair tied up in a topknot.

"This is our first time meeting. My name is Huishen. From now on, I'll be the one helping you get familiar with the place and guiding your studies."

The young Taoist looked about thirteen or fourteen, quite a bit younger than Lin Hui, but spoke with great maturity. As he looked at Lin Hui, he wore a gentle smile that he'd clearly copied from some adult. It made him seem a little too mature for his age.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Huishen." Lin Hui hurriedly bowed.

"Come on. I look forward to working with you," Huishen said with a smile, turning to lead the way.

*

*

*

Joining Qingfeng Temple was very easy for Lin Hui. He had gotten in through Daoist Mingde, a temple expert who was an old friend of his father, Lin Shunhe.

Qingfeng Temple's structure was very simple. After spending several days looking around, Lin Hui had a rough understanding of how things worked.

At the top was just one person: the temple's master, Daoist Bao He.

Below him were the managers, three in all: Ming Chen, Mingde, and Ming Xiu. The three took turns managing the temple's logistics, teaching, and outside affairs.

At its core, Qingfeng Temple was a business that made most of its money by teaching basic external martial arts. It also cultivated a small patch in the hills behind the temple called the Medicine Garden, where they grew a precious medicinal herb known as Shixing Root. These two sources of income easily covered all the temple's expenses.

After joining, Lin Hui quickly grew familiar with the daily schedule and his duties under Huishen's guidance.

Mingde assigned him some basic arithmetic work. It soon became clear that Lin Hui handled it with ease, so Mingde gradually began giving him more and more tasks.

As Lin Hui got used to his surroundings and his work, he continued studying his newly awakened Blood Seal.

Before he knew it, a week had passed...